It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6.16.14

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

#bookaday is officially underway!  Let the reading begin!

Picture Books


Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman
4/5 stars
This book is crave-worthy because of the beautiful illustrations!  It makes you want to return to the book over and over just to see them again!  Three little bears have accidentally broken their mother's favorite blue seashell so they set sail on an adventure to replace it.  They meet some other bear sailors, my favorite being the old timer who likes to start his sentences with "I reckon...".  Along the way they learn a lesson about the important things in life and how to admit when you're wrong.


Ninja! by Arree Chung
5/5 stars
I loved this beautiful picture book!  It had several laugh out loud moments!  The ninja descriptions and ninja action words were fantastic.  I loved how some of the pages were separated into frames - almost like a beginning graphic novel.  My favorite part is when the young ninja gets caught, and his downtrodden face and "I am dishonored" will make you giggle out loud!  This is a must read!



Toy Boat by Randall de Seve
4/5 stars
Beautiful illustrations.  Use when teaching central message.  The book has 2 - the boy in the story learns something and the toy boat learns a lesson.


Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies
4/5 stars
I found this book through another blogger (I can't remember who, but thank you!).  This book is so wonderful!  I think kids will love exploring the concept - nocturnal animals and what they do at night.  You could pair it with Snowmen at Night for a familiar theme.  Love the illustrations!


Chloe by Peter McCarty
3/5 stars
Use during Turn Off the TV week


Because I Stubbed My Toe by Shawn Byous
4/5 stars
Perfect for cause/effect and surprise endings!


Big Bad Bubble by Adam Rubin
3/5 stars


If I Had a Raptor by George O'Connor
3/5 stars


Books Always Everywhere by Jane Blatt
3/5 stars


Sophie Sleeps Over by Marisabina Russo
3/5 stars


Informational Texts


A Boy and A Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz
4/5 stars
Fantastic narrative nonfiction about the author and how he was able to rise above his stuttering disability because of his work with big cats, particularly the jaguar.  If you are doing a mock Schneider or mock Sibert Award, I would put this book on both lists!

Books from New York Times Best Illustrated Books List
I read several books from this list this week.


Ballad by Blexbolex
3/5 stars
This was an interesting one for me.  I picked this book up because it landed on the NYT Best Illustrated Books list.  And the illustrations were very unique.  But this book is misleading as it's definitely meant for an older audience.  Few words, more illustrations.  Readers have to infer what is going on.  Would best be used as a whole group, small group, or partner read.  It needs to be discussed while being read.  Lots of interpretations!

Nasreddine by Odile Weulersse

4/5 stars

Turkish folk tale.  Beautifully told.  Lovely illustrations but the dad was a little strange to me.  Looked like he had stilts for legs?

Where's Mommy? by Beverly Donofrio

3/5 stars

Cute story for younger readers, but amazing illustrations.  The details in the illustrations were fantastic.

Poetry


Outside the Box by Karma Wilson
4/5 stars
If you are a fan of Shel Silverstein, as many young kids are, this book will be perfect.  A collection of poems in rhyme, these poems will make you smile, chuckle and laugh.  Add in illustrations by Diane Goode and you have a can't miss book.

Middle Grade


Circa Now by Amber McRee Turner
5/5 stars
I have a love/hate relationship with these type of books.  I love them.  I get immersed in their world.  I can read for hours at a time.  They are page turners for me.  But I hate them.  I hate when the story is over.  I hate saying goodbye to the characters.  I hate saying goodbye to the amazing writing.  There are not many books I can say this to - Wonder and Snicker of Magic come to mind immediately.
Here is my Goodreads summary:  It's really hard to write a review for a book as good as Circa Now. This is one of those books I slowed down to read, trying to make it last as long as I could. 
It was a fantastic story. I loved the concept of reality mixing with fantasy. While it was a sad story, it was also one of hope. Circa was a lovely main character - one you would want to know in "real life". 
Turner did a fantastic job writing this book. I loved the way she intertwined the parts of the story. 
Loved. 
My favorite line, "Thank you for the thens, she thought. And thank you for the now." pg 265

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
5/5 stars
My Goodreads review:  It took me awhile to connect to Willow Chance. I needed time to let her get under my skin. Once she did, I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her tight; make her world right. I loved this book for the fact that it showed what makes up family. How characters can change. How people can make sense of their world. Beautifully written.
I loved Willow because she realized "books=comfort"
I recommend this book for middle school readers.
So many lovely lines:
pg. 135 "I admire that in a person. The ability to keep your mouth shut is usually a sign of intelligence. Introspection requires you to think and analyze. It's hard to do that when you are blabbing away."
pg. 175 "For someone grieving, moving forward is the challenge. Because after extreme loss, you want to go back... No matter how hard, they try, other people do not understand because I'm incapable of communication. And that is why the deepest form of pain comes out as silence."
pg. 278 "That's why this running matters. I think that the effort put forward in matters of physical exertion is more important than the outcome."
pg. 289 "Dell Duke is not a bad person. He is just bad at being a person."
pg. 351 "A second can feel like forever if what follows is heartbreak."
pg. 355 "This is one of the secrets that I have learned in the last few months. When you care about other people, it takes the spotlight off your own drama."
pg. 359 "If there is anything I've figured out in the last months it's that you can find labels to organize living things, but you can't put people in any kind of group or order. It just doesn't work that way."

Currently Reading


Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff


and for me...

China Dolls by Lisa See
(I guess I'm into reading books by the authors with the name of Lisa!!)

My professional book is still Readers Front and Center, I've just taken a break on professional reading for a bit!  I'll have it done in early July :)

Can't wait to see what you are reading!